Thill-coupling



N0. 6l|,320. Patented Sept. 27, I898.

W. 8. JAMES. THILL COUPLING.

(Application filedDec. 10, 1897.)

(No Model.)

I "ILZZ Jame Z 0, $17 I v qflovge s,

WILL S. JAMES, OF MEXIA, TEXAS, ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESNE AS-SIGNMENTS, OF THREE-FOURTHS TO J. D. HAM, W. E. NABORS, AND J. L.HARVEY, OF DE LEON, TEXAS.

THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 61 1,320, datedSeptember 27, 1898. Application filed December 1897- Serial No. 661,413-(No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern: with the thill-iron and bolt omitted andshow- Be it known that I, WILL S. JAMES, a citiing one notch in fulllines and the other notch zen of the United States, residing at Mexia,in by dotted lines in order to better illustrate the county of Limestoneand State of Texas, the relative arrangement or position of the 5 haveinvented a new and useful Thill-Ooupnotches. f I ling, of which thefollowing is a specification. Like numerals of reference denote like andThis invention is a thill-coupling, and the corresponding parts in eachof the several improvement relates more particularly to figures of thedrawings. means for locking the thill-iron to the attached Referring nowbynumerals to the drawings, 10 thill in a raised position. 1 designatesa clip or shackle of a thill-coup- One of the objects that'I have inView is to ling which in all substantial respects is simiprovide animproved 'pivotalbolt which when lar to the shackles already in use. Asshown, the thill-iron is raised is designed to have the clip or shackleis designed to be applied uniform locking engagement with both arms tothe bolster and axle of a carriage or other I 5 of the clip or shackle,thereby avoiding unvehicle, and from the front sideof the clip equalstrain and weight on the opposite ends project the parallel arms 2,adapted to receive of the pivotal bolt and the arms of the clip or thethill-iron 3 and the pivotal bolt or pin 4. shackle. The thill-iron hasits eye-formed end arranged A further object that I have in view is toto fit snugly between the apertured ends of 20 provide an improvedconstruction of the lockthe arms 2, and said thill-iron is adapted toing appliance which may be'readily adapted move freely for a limiteddistance with the to ordinary thill-couplings, because the boltpivotalpin or bolt insaid arms of the thillnotches may readily be formed insuch coupshackle to enable the shafts or thills to have lings by asuitable tool, and the bolt-actuatthe desired vibration or play inthe'shackle 25 ing spring may be easily and quickly applied or clip. 1

to the clip orshackle withoutresorting to the In embodying my inventionin the thilluse of bolts, screws, or other attaching applicoupling Iprovide the disalined notches 5 6 ances. in the eye-formed ends of theshackle-arms 2 With these ends in view the invention conand employ apeculiar construction of the 30 sists in the novel construction andarrangepivotal pin or bolt eiand a: novel form of spring ment of parts,which'will be hereinafter fully for actuating said bolt to force it intolocking 8o i described and claimed. engagement with the clip or shacklewhen the To enable others to understand my 'inventhill-iron and thethill are raised. The notch tion, I have illustrated the preferredembodi-' 5 in one arm of the shackle is provided or ment thereof in theaccompanying drawings, formed therein ata point out of line with theforming a part of this specification, and in notch 6 in the other arm ofthe shackle, and whichthe eye-formed end of the thill-iron is pro-Figure 1 is a perspective view of a' thillvided with a groove '7, whichextends entirely coupling constructed in accordance with my through onewall of said eye-formed end of 40 invention. Fig. 2isaverticaltransverse secthe thill-iron, so as to open through both tional viewthereof through the pivotal bolt sides or faces thereof. 0 and the eyeof the thill-iron. Fig. 8 is a ver- The pivotal bolt or pin 4 isprovided with tical section on a plane at right angles to Fig. alongfeather or spline 8, a short stud or lug 2 and indicated by the dotted'lineaaof Fig. 9, and a head 10 at one end thereof. The 45 2. Fig. 4 isa detail perspective view of the long feather or spline projectsradially from pivotal bolt detached from the thill clip or one side ofthis pivotal bolt, and it extends shackle. Fig. 5 is a detailperspective view longitudinally thereof from a point near one of thebolt-actuating spring; Fig. 6 is a de-' end to a point past the middleof said bolt. tail view in'elevation of the clip or shackle Said longfeather, however, does not extend continuously of the length of thebolt, but it terminates a suitable distance within the ing its longfeather or spline 8 fit in the groove headed end 10 of said bolt toleave a smooth space between the inner terminal of the feather or spline8 and the head 10. The short stud or lug 9 is provided on the bolt inthe space between the inner terminal of the feather or spline 8 and thehead 10; but this short stud is not in alinement with the long featheror spline, but is situated at one side thereof and out of line with thesame. The head of the bolt is produced thereon by slightly flanging orupsetting one end of the bolt, and said head is of such diameter that itwill abut against the outer face or side of the arm of the clip orshackle sufficiently to limit the endwise movement of the bolt under theimpelling influence of the spring 11.

I employ a construction of spring which is designed to be applied to onearm of the clip or shackle in a manner to hold itself in position onsaid clip or shackle and in operative relation to the bolt, therebyentirely dispensing with the employment of bolts, screws, or other meansfor fastening the spring in place on the clip or shackle. This spring isformed of a single piece of metal having the necessary resiliency andstrength, and the head 12 of the spring is provided with theoppositely-extending arms '13, arranged substantially at right angles tothe length of the spring to form a clasp by which the spring may befitted upon an arm of the clip or shackle to hold itself in placethereon by frictional engagement therewith. The spring is made of asingle piece of metal stamped in blank form and doubled upon itself togive the necessary resiliency thereto, after which the arms 13 of thespring are bent in the manner described to extend outwardly from thehead 12.

In the practical embodiment of my invention I may manufacture the clipor shackle with the disalined notches 5 6 in the eyeformed ends of thearms 2 thereof; but in applying my invention to ordinary thill-couplings already in existence a suitable tool may be provided by which thenotches 5 6 may be produced in said arms of the clip or shackle. Thethill-iron is treated to provide the continuous groove 7 in its eye, anda bolt or spring constructed in accordance with my invention is usedinconnectionwith the notched shackle and grooved thill-iron.

In assembling the parts of the coupling together the thill-iron isadjusted between the arms of the clip or shackle to have the groove 7 ofsaid eye aline with the notch 5 in one arm of the clip, after which thebolt is inserted in a manner to have its long feather or spline 8 fit inthe groove 7 of the thill-iron,

while the short stud or lug 9 of said bolt rides against the exposedface of one arm of the clip or shackle. The spring is now applied to theshackle by fittingits clasp (or the arms 13) around one arm of saidshackle and having the free end of the spring engage with the headed end10 of the bolt. As the bolt is unwlocked with relation to the thill-ironby havof the said iron, the iron and bolt are adapted to turn or rock alimited distance and thus permit the thill to have the desiredoscillation in the clip or shackle. When the thill is elevated to itsraised position, the iron and bolt turn therewith in the shacklesufficiently to permit the short stud or lug 9 of the bolt to comeopposite to the notch 5 in the clip,whereupon the pressure of the spring11 against the headed end of the bolt forces the bolt endwise and causesits feather 8 to engage with the notch 6 and its short stud or lug 9 toengage with the notch 5 of the shackle. This endwise adjustment of thebolt takes place automatically under the pressure of the spring, and thebolt is thus forced into locking engagement with the shackle for thepurpose of holding the thill-iron and the thill in their raisedpositions.

One of the important advantages due to my improved construction andarrangement of parts is that the bolt has locking engagement at bothends with the respective arms of the clip or shackle, and thisconstruction is important in this art because the respective ends of thebolt have uniform bearing or looking engagement with the arms of theshackle, thereby obviating unequal strain on the locking-bolt of thecoupling.

I attach especial importance to the peculiar construction of thelocking-bolt with its disalined feather and stud 8 9 and to theconstruction of the spring in a manner to enable it to be applied to anordinary thill iron without resorting to the use of bolts or screws.

While I have described and illustrated a construction of the boltactuating spring made or stamped from a single piece of sheet metal, Ido not desire to strictly limit myself to the precise form of thespring, because I am aware that a coil-spring may be used in lieu of theleaf-spring. Nor do I limit myself strictly to the precise details ofconstruction and arrangement of parts, because I am aware that they maybe modified. by a skilled mechanic without departing from the spirit ofthe invention.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the drawings,it will be seen that I have provided an improved construction of athill-coupling which is simple and durable and at the same timepossesses the requisites of ready application to an ordinarythill-coupling and that the device is efficient, reliable, and automaticin operation.

Having thusdescribed my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a clip or shackle having the disalined notches,and a grooved thill-iron, of a locking pivotal bolt provided with a longfeather and a short stud or lug which is out of alinement with the longfeather, and a spring in operative relation to said bolt toautomatically impel the latter endwise and deflected or bowed laterallyfrom said clip to have its free end engage with the exposed end of thebolt, whereby the spring may be readily detached from the clip withoutdisengaging any of the parts thereof, substantially as described.

3. In athill-coupling, the combination with clip or shackle providedwith disalined notches, and a thill-iron having a transverse channel orgroove, of a pivotal locking-bolt having a head at one end, the longfeather or spline, and a short stud or lug which is situated between thehead and long feather and out of alinement with the latter, and a springdoubled upon itself to have one end in engagement with the headed end ofthe bolt and provided with the arms forming a clasp adapted to embracethe clip or shackle and hold said spring in position, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WVILL S. JAMES. Witnesses:

JOHN H. SIGGERS, HAROLD H. SIMMs.

